Texas A M University

Friends and families began burying their dead Saturday as Texas A&M University struggled to cope with the bonfire tower collapse that killed 12 people and injured 27. About 1,000 people attended the funeral service for Nathan Scott West, a 19-year-old sophomore oceanography major who was killed in the Thursday morning accident. "Why does tragedy happen to good people who are going about doing good for others?" asked the Rev. Mark Young. " . . .

In a year in which sexual harassment has jumped into the headlines, the Aggies of Texas A & M University find themselves in an uncomfortable spot: front and center. The corps of cadets of A & M, long the symbol of this sprawling campus, is under university investigation over allegations that male cadets denigrate and harass the small number of women who have joined the corps. John Sherman, the top-ranking member of the corps, likens the investigation to being under a microscope.

Texas A&M University announced Friday that the Thanksgiving bonfire ritual held since 1909 will not resume until 2002 and said the student-run project, a beloved football tradition marred by tragedy last November, will be dramatically scaled down and subject to close professional supervision. The announcement by A&M President Ray Bowen comes seven months after last year's bonfire preparations ended in disaster. A 59-foot-high stack of heavy logs collapsed before dawn on Nov.

President Bush has decided to locate his presidential library at Texas A&M University, an Administration official said Friday. White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the library will be constructed on the College Station, Tex., campus. The University of Houston and Rice University in Houston also were considered. Fitzwater said Bush decided on Texas A&M after "an extensive" review of the proposals by Don Wilson, the archivist of the United States.

Classmates, families and friends gathered in churches Sunday, quietly sobbing and praying for the 12 people killed when a four-story pyramid of logs collapsed at Texas A&M University. At A&M United Methodist Church, a youth minister recited the names of the dead. A man and a woman lit 12 small white candles. Tim Kerlee Jr., who often attended the church, was one of the victims. Local, state and federal officials planned to meet today to map out an investigation strategy.

Two of the 12 killed in the collapse of the Texas A&M University bonfire pile were legally drunk, prompting an investigation by the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Toxicology reports released Friday show the blood-alcohol levels of two male students killed in the Nov. 18 accident exceeded the legal limit, the Bryan-College Station Eagle and the Dallas Morning News reported. The level for one student was nearly four times the 0.08 threshold, the newspapers said.

The worst-injured survivor of the Texas A&M bonfire collapse returned to campus Monday almost two years after he was pinned under the fallen logs. John Comstock, 21, began the school year Monday with a business math class. It follows a long road to recovery, including surgery and months of intensive physical therapy. Comstock's left leg was amputated below the knee and he is partly paralyzed. "I want to get on with being a regular college student," said Comstock, a biomedical sciences major.

A team of French and American researchers has successfully cloned a horse, Texas A&M University officials announced Wednesday. The foal was named Paris Texas. The university believes it's the first successful cloned horse in North America; horses have previously been cloned in Italy. "Look at him, he's gorgeous," Katrin Hinrichs, the lead scientist on the project said just before the 6-week-old, light-brown foal made his public debut.

A couple who are convinced they have the perfect dog with the perfect bark are giving $2.3 million to Texas A&M University to clone their beloved mixed-breed Missy. The mystery couple sent out requests for proposals from research institutions a year ago via the Internet. This summer, Texas A&M was chosen and a contract signed for what is being called the Missyplicity Project. Missy, 11, a collie-husky mix, has already been flown to the university in College Station to have tissue samples taken.